Cassa Pancho, director
of Ballet Black has a vision: “I started Ballet Black as a small
thing – hoping to create a place where black dancers could come
and train in classical ballet with the view to having a small company
one day.” Pancho has elicited support from like minded people who
include the Royal Opera House, Deborah Bull, the Cochrane Theatre, Leone
Urdang, the Urdang Dance Academy and musicians and dancers who are giving
time and effort for little or no monetary gain to make Ballet Black the
dance school and company it hopes to be.

What does this say
about practitioners and supporters of classical ballet here in Britain?
What does this say about The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham
Royal Ballet and many other prestigious ballet companies and schools here
in the United Kingdom who have the resources to offer opportunities for
ballet training and employment but have no notable presence of dancers
with African or Asian heritages? Is it a fact that young aspiring dancers
of African or Asian heritage will meet insurmountable boundaries like
mediocre training, discouragement, and lack of opportunities for employment
in British ballet schools and companies if there is no Ballet Black? It
would seem so given the few dancers of diverse heritages employed by British
ballet companies, prejudicial teaching practices experienced by dancers
of diverse heritages, and continued ignorance and racialised beliefs regarding
the black dancing body as witnessed in this British context by Pancho.
In her program note, Pancho mentions Arthur Mitchell and Dance Theatre
of Harlem (DTH) as an example of an “all-black ballet company”
and states there is no equivalent in the UK. One has to ask, though, is
a company and school like DTH even possible in Britain?

Britain does not
have the contextualised interactions that inspired Arthur Mitchell. Arthur
Mitchell was a highly respected, principal dancer of the New York City
Ballet Company (NYCB). George Balanchine choreographed "Agon"
as well as other major ballets on Mitchell. Mitchell in the prime of his
performance career left the stage to devote his life to building a school
and a company that now, some 35 years later, boasts an international touring
company of 44 dancers with a repertory of master works from some of the
greatest choreographers of the 20th century.

Mitchell’s
choice to start DTH began in 1969. His lived experience in America during
the 1960’s was a time of extreme racial discrimination and civil
strife, a time that saw the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. But
this was also the time when Mitchell from his position of power in NYCB
equipped with his particular informed lived experience as an African American
combined with his embodied knowledge of classical ballet and repertory
of NYCB sought the support of an extraordinary master teacher and colleague,
Karel Shook, to begin the dream of Dance Theatre of Harlem. Britain will
not have a Dance Theatre of Harlem because the context, the time, and
the people are not the same. But, yes, Britain seems to need something
like DTH given the perspectives of Cassa Pancho and supporters of Ballet
Black.

Ballet Black performed
at the Cochrane Theatre 21-22 February 2004. It was a program of four
ballets. "A New Beginning" by Denzil Bailey is an accessible
opener complete with a live band upstage right. This work had the dancers
wearing oranges and browns of varied styles of skirts, tights and shirts.
This is ballet with a twist and the twist is the use of jazz music and
polyrhythms in the use of lose hips and isolation of body parts. Celia
Grannum and Jeremiah Tatum were outstanding partners, with Denzil Bailey,
Florence Kollie, Jake Nwogu, and Cassa Pancho adding their particular
kind of support within the tapestry of this work. Although the dancers
and music were a joy to watch and hear there were weaknesses in technical
skill as evidence in some sickled feet, lifted shoulders in jumps and
weak body lines.

"Elégie"
by Stephen Sheriff uses Francis Poulenc’s music of the same name
for Horn & Piano. It seemed an abstract work that relied on body design
and the dynamic of the movement to support its thematic structure. Essentially
this was a non-literal work. Close to the end, a cannon of falls and recovery
from the floor resolved with the dancers arriving each in turn surrounding
the piano played by Gwilym Simcock and french horn player, Paul Robinson.
This work illustrated the resolve of the dancers but also seemed like
a new idea that the dancers were just beginning to discover. It seemed
that without the hook of a “story”, “form” was
hard to portray and the lack of dynamic modulation made the dancers’
task even harder.

"Pas de Trois"
choreographed by Patrick Lewis opens with Florence Kollie seated in a
white chair. The white chair is the third party in this charming trio
that included Denzil Bailey. Dressed in a red tutu with green underskirt
and point shoes this work gave Kollie the opportunity to show off her
chicky side even if it was a bit chilly. Bailey was the willing participant
in this dance joke with amusing interactions for the space, the music,
the chair and each dancer. It was just a bit of fun and the audience loved
it.
"The Boogaloo Rooms" choreographed by Cassa Pancho presented
the dancers in black satin skirts and shoes, ties and slacks that, with
be bop and lyrical jazz moves supported by The Ballet Black Jazz Quartet,
was a total success. Here the dancers were in their element, flying across
the stage enjoying every moment of this familiar dance landscape. Notable
in this work was Jake Nwogu who beamed from beginning to end.

Classically trained
then directed to finesse, a shimmy in the shoulders while on full pointe
or performing a jazz drag after a temp levé en arabesque takes
training to the bone. The dancer bends the form because her or his technical
foundation is solid. It takes time for embodied knowledge to change a
dancer’s body, to penetrate the surface and not be simply “skin
deep”; no matter whether the skin is white, brown, black, or yellow.
For the abstract to be portrayed, for form to be realised, you need the
bone and tendons to dictate to muscles; you need the mind to know the
art even if it is not quite realised in the body. If this ingredient is
minimal or nascent then maturity, finesse or direction must camouflage
imperfections.

Friends, associates,
and supporters of Ballet Black can be lenient but the legacy of classical
ballet is a bit more hard nosed. Flaws in technical skills, lifts filled
with effort and clumsy, and body image problems are noticeable issues
that no balletomane will excuse and really should not be tolerated. The
responsibility to the legacy of classical ballet that includes Arthur
Mitchell and DTH is too profound and the stakes are too high. Training
physically and mentally to build assuredness, utter commitment and time
will replace the bits of apprehension and slack in the technique witnessed
on stage in the 21 February performance.

Given this, though,
it is a beginning. Florence Kollie with private training with Celia Mayorcas
has a quiet disposition and is still finding her performance voice. Celia
Grannum, trained at New York University’s Tish School of the
Arts, exudes confidence and grace. Jeremiah Tatum whose Alvin Ailey flamboyance
and Dance Theatre of Harlem School technical prowess are testimony of
American dance training institutions. Neil Totton who got his training
in the United States also has classical lines and a quiet prowess. Jack
Nwogu, trained at Central School of Ballet here in Britain is young and
has a few more lessons to learn in classical ballet but this young dancer
can jump to great heights and has a brilliant performance spirit that
is even higher.

Cassa Pancho is not
the technical giant of Arthur Mitchell but there is this vision that she
and Denzil Bailey are willing to push with all their combined strength.
Their responsibility though is to acknowledge the legacy of classical
ballet, all of it, both the good and bad, and adhere to its standard of
perfection. There is also their responsibility to peoples of diverse heritages
and the value and level of commitment fathers, mothers, aspiring children
and young adults place on becoming classical ballet dancers. There is
a mind set required to endure the trials that becoming a classical ballet
dancer entails that will spell success whether the boundaries are up or
down. How long to the fruition of Ballet Black’s vision? It took
Mitchell 35 years and given the accolades of his company reviewers still
cite the company as a “black” ballet company.

It seems that despite
DTH's accomplishments as a neoclassical company with dancers of phenomenal
classical skill, in this British context DTH is an anomaly and its dancers
are considered “black dancers" who do classical ballet and
not classically trained dance artists. DTH has broken the boundaries but
not changed minds. What idea is to be pursued: “black” dancers
who do classical ballet or dancers who choose from a position of power
and knowledge what dance art they want to perform?

Let not the social
and political concept of “black” that appears to be a stigma
in this British context precipitate segregation and not change the very
boundaries that have precipitated the forming of Ballet Black in the first
place. It will most likely take 35 years for Ballet Black to break the
boundaries here in Britain that DTH has broken in America but changing
people’s ideas on what ballet requires and who can do it whether
the person is white, black, brown or yellow seems destined to be an on-going
struggle. 35 years is at least three generations in dance training and
careers. Will Pancho and Bailey sustain this level of commitment with
all its multiple responsibilities and tribulations?

So yes Britain seems
to need a company like Ballet Black. Is the present Ballet Black Company
the answer? What is gained from the inspiration of DTH is just that, and
inspiration in itself is important for any vision to realise its goal.
DTH is not the model to use here in Britain but it does have ingredients
within its success that the current Ballet Black Company can profit from.
Only time will tell whether Ballet Black will achieve its vision on its
own terms and break the boundaries that seem to perpetuate themselves
no matter what “we” do.
Edited by Jeff